


Love Dumb

by glitchly



Category: THE iDOLM@STER, THE iDOLM@STER: SideM
Genre: M/M, Matchmaking, a few references to canon, a treat, as per usual, ch2 features me accidentally dropping hints of hayashiki whoops-, it's only a little bit of swearing lol, later chapters are going to become filled with the corniest tropes ever, look at me writing more hxj shenanigans, mainly intro magazines, more charas will prolly show up along the way, multi-chapter, sanbaka being stupid, there's a lot of hcs here, three idiots with no love experience try to get two of their friends together, warning for a few curse words
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:00:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25658608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitchly/pseuds/glitchly
Summary: Sanbaka have always agreed that their unitmates, Jun and Natsuki, are the perfect couple, always being slightly envious of their close relationship, even if they tend to keep their relationship status a little quiet...and then they find out that the resident intellis were never actually in a relationship, and that the trio had just massively misinterpreted everything.Well, they're not letting things go on like this for any longer. If there's two things these three idiots know for sure, it's that their unitmates totally like each other like that, and that neither of them are ever going to make the first move. It's time for the members of HighxJoker to take things into their own hands, and arrange for these two to finally get together. However, there's just one problem.Both of their unitmates are incredibly oblivious to things like flirting and romance, regardless of how obvious their mutual feelings may be. Shenanigans ensue as Sanbaka keep trying to find new ways to get their friends together. Multi-chapter.
Relationships: Fuyumi Jun/Sakaki Natsuki
Comments: 7
Kudos: 10





	1. Revelations

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1 of this finally written!  
> This fic is inspired partly by headcanon and partly by a series of inside jokes with some friends that ended up evolving into a fully-fledged fic concept. This can indeed be considered something of a crackfic and isn't meant to be taken completely seriously, I just like writing HxJ/Sanbaka being their usual stupid selves. 
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy! I'm currently already working on chapter 2, so I hope there's not too much of a wait for the next chapter!

The live house seemed to be a pretty popular spot. After all, the city was filled with all sorts of aspiring artists, and these two were no exceptions. Well, they were less ‘aspiring’ and more ‘straight-up contracted’, but even professionally-recruited idols and bands needed to practice, and that’s what they were there to do.  
  
The two that had come to this spot were two that had usually gone to practice with the rest of their group, they were a quintet, but this particular pairing were the only ones who were available that day. That was fine though, as any practice was better than missing practice completely.  
  
The two in question were the bassist and drummer of HighxJoker, Natsuki Sakaki and Haruna Wakazato, respectively. Even if they were the only two there, that wasn’t an issue, the two were an oddly in-synch pair considering how shy Natsuki was most of the time, and the fact that the two were complete opposites no matter how you looked at things. Natsuki was reserved, Haruna was more outgoing. Natsuki was school-smart, Haruna had been held back twice. Natsuki was in a relationship, Haruna was single. But they seemed to understand one another pretty well, and that was what mattered.   
  
“The place is kinda packed today, huh?” Haruna mused, mostly just saying whatever to initiate a conversation, “Guess we’re lucky to have gotten a space.”  
  
“Yeah...I hope that...next time...we can bring everyone else as well…” Natsuki replied, blankly staring into the distance as he followed Haruna to the room they’d been allocated, “Usually...Jun...is with me…”  
  
Well, that wasn’t surprising. The two were an item after all, and Haruna and the others in HighxJoker had often been slightly jealous of the two’s tight relationship. The so-called ‘idiot trio’ of the band were all single, and their smarter unitmates were with each other, and they had been since even before joining the band, or at least that’s what Hayato had said. Well, no matter when they got together, it really didn’t require much brain muscle to figure out their relationship, which is probably how those three had managed to figure things out.   
  
But still, it was occasionally endearing to see the way Natsuki’s face would lighten up around Jun, or to hear the way he’d describe Jun when asked about him, or the way he was always there for his dear partner and blushing at the slightest cute thing that the boy did. From an outsider’s perspective, it seemed pretty one-sided, but Haruna and his fellow idiots were all certain that Jun was probably the most grotesquely sappy and cute partner ever behind closed doors, when the three of them weren’t there to tease him about any of it. They’d never really bought up the pair’s relationship in front of them, Jun’s typically-reserved nature had the three under the impression that they probably wanted things to remain secret for now. Well, idols were typically meant to be single, so maybe it was for the best.  
  
“Don’t worry, we’ll bring Jun and the others next time, alright?” Haruna assured the silver-haired boy before a slight grin came to his face, “But for now, it’s just us two...we could consider this a date or something.”   
  
“A date…?” Natsuki blinked, tilting his head curiously “But…”  
  
“Yeah...as long as you don’t tell Jun, I don’t wanna see his jealous side.” Haruna snickered a bit as he got the words out, “I’d bet he be pretty pissed at me, huh?”  
  
Although Haruna thought it was a pretty funny quip, the awkward silence that followed said otherwise. The shit-eating grin on the older boy’s face was quickly wiped away as he turned to look at a Natsuki who seemed...not actually that upset?  
  
“Uhh, I was joking, I was joking…” Haruna clarified, he stopped walking as he gulped back the immediate regret over that joke, “I-I know you’d never go on a date with someone else, so-”

“J-Jun’s jealous side…” Natsuki repeated the words, seeming to think something through, “Haruna...are you...”

Oh God, that joke had not landed even remotely well, and now Haruna was beginning to panic, “Shit, shit, p-please forgive me, I didn’t mean to imply-”

“...Why would Jun be jealous o-of a date? I mean, we’re not a couple or anything…” Natsuki let the words trail, his gaze seeming to become completely unfocused as he began staring into the distance.

“Yeah, we’re not! You’re with Jun afterall...” Haruna nodded in agreement, “...u-unless you guys are, like, in an open type of thing-”

“W-What are you talking about…?” Natsuki spoke, although the look on his face was still somewhat vacant, he was starting to pay attention to the drummer before him, “Me and Jun...we’re not a couple, Haruna.”  
_  
We’re not a couple.  
  
_Those words played over, and over, and over in Haruna’s mind as he tried to formulate a response. Him...and Jun...wait, wait. That did not make sense, not even a little bit. It made no sense at all; to Haruna, trying to process how that was possible was harder than getting a good grade on a test, and that was saying something.   
  
Was the resident #1 fan of Jun Fuyumi, the person constantly by his side, blushing at his mere presence, the quietest person on Earth who was always willing to suddenly speak paragraphs if it related to Jun, saying that he wasn’t in a romantic relationship with the person of his dreams?  
  
None of that added up. None of that made sense, those two had known each other for ages, they were clearly so close, they had always been together in school, in band stuff, in idol stuff-  
  
Wait, that was it! How did Haruna not realise it before? Of course, now it made sense! Natsuki and Jun were idols, and idols having partners was considered by some to be taboo, right? Of course, of course, it all made perfect sense now.   
  
“Alright, alright, sure thing…” The look of dumbfounded shock on Haruna’s face quickly faded back into a smile as he nodded, folding his arms as he finally pieced everything together, “Sorry, I got you now, man.”  
  
Before Natsuki could react, Haruna leaned in closer with no warning, placing his hands near his mouth in case there was anybody eavesdropping. The look of confusion on Natsuki’s face only became more perplexed as he tried to process what exactly was going on, as it seemed that him and his friend weren’t exactly on the same page.  
  
“Ok, I got it. You two aren’t together, nudge nudge, wink wink, idols aren’t meant to be dating, I understand perfectly.” Haruna spoke in a hushed whisper, shrugging as he continued on, “I’m sorry for mentioning it in public, but I don’t think anyone heard us, so-”  
  
“Haruna, I’m serious…” Natsuki copied Haruna’s suddenly-quiet tone as he replied, he wasn’t even sure why he was joining in with this, yet here he was. “I...H-Haruna, did you think we were dating this whole time…?”  
  
“Dude, no one’s around, you can drop the act.” Haruna kept trying to just shrug away what Natsuki was saying, “No one can hear us, o-or if you’d rather discuss this when we get to the room-”  
  
“I’m completely serious.” Natsuki’s tone suddenly shifted to complete deadpan as he tried to get the point across. The boy took in a deep breath, before finally exhaling as he spoke the words out clearly, “Haruna...me and Jun are not a couple. We are not together, we…” Before he continued on, the young man took a few moments to turn his head from side-to-side, just to make sure he wasn’t being overheard, “...I only wish what you were implying was true.”  
  
He was serious. That much was clear.   
  
But that was all that felt clear about anything right now. With those words, it felt like the gears in Haruna’s head had simultaneously stopped completely and begun working overtime. He had no idea how to process this. How did any of it add it up, if they weren’t a couple, then what was all of that obvious flirting between the two? What were all the clearly obvious signs that Natsuki had feelings for his best friend? What was pretty much everything they’d ever said to each other if not the words of two people in love?  
  
Jun was not stupid. He was the smartest person in that unit, and now Haruna was expected to accept that he didn’t know how Natsuki very obviously felt about him?  
  
“Bullshit.” Was the response Haruna instinctively got out, his previous hushed whisper had fallen away as he found himself still struggling to answer, “A-Are you actually serious?? You’re not pulling my leg? You’re deadass telling the truth right now?”  
  
“W-Why would I...lie about something...like that?” Natsuki seemed to tense up a little at the response he got, once again beginning to zone out mid-conversation, “I...I really want to just say ‘I’m joking’ or something, but...it’s true. I’m single, and so is Jun, so…”  
  
“Are. You. Fucking kidding me?” Was all the drummer could answer with, there was still a subconscious part of him that was hoping that Natsuki was just trying to play some sort of long-haul prank on him, or that once they reached their room he'd suddenly say 'fufu, fooled you', as unlikely as either of those situations seemed, “Natsuki, I-I...I just...Jun’s not an idiot!”  
  
“I know he’s not!” Natsuki replied, suddenly seeming fired up about something, “He’s the best...he’s smart, and talented, and he lights up my life, I-I know he's far from stupid-!”  
  
“You literally talk exactly like this in front of him, and you’re telling me he’s never figured out your crush on him??” Haruna had to take a moment to sigh, holding his head in his hands as he lamented Natsuki’s situation, “Are you telling me three idiots figured it out before him…?”  
  
“W-Wait, you figured out that I have a crush…?” Natsuki blinked, “You...w-what clued you in?”  
  
Had Haruna not already been suffering from the whiplash of finding out that the lovey-dovey Natsuki was apparently single, that last sentence of his probably would’ve dealt the finishing blow to whatever sanity Haruna still had left following recent revelations.  
  
“Jesus, next time use a different tone so I realise you’re being sarcastic…” Haruna’s tone had completely dropped into a deadpan tone of near-exhaustion, it felt like everything Natsuki said was just adding to his struggles to understand everything.  
  
“I wasn’t being sarcastic…” Natsuki mumbled, seeming somewhat embarrassed, “I...r-really, what was it that made you realise…?”  
  
“Ok, no, no, no, now I know you’re messing with me.” Haruna took his hands away from his face to stare at the bassist, shaking his head as he did so, “Natsuki, you can’t be serious. Your crush is the most obvious thing on Earth, why else would me, and Hayato, _and_ Shiki all have thought you were dating??”  
  
“...All three of you thought so…?” Natsuki took a moment to process that, before blinking as he answered, “I really didn’t realise I was being that obvious…”  
  
This was going to be a long, long conversation, and it was one that Haruna was not prepared for in any way, shape or form. Those two not actually being...no, no amount of talking would ever suddenly cause that to make sense to him. Even though he still had the rest of the day to spend with Natsuki, Haruna knew that in order to work everything out, there was someone, no, two someones who he needed to consult tomorrow.  
  


* * *

  
“I’m sorry, he said _what_?”  
  
Hayato’s house was the go-to place for these three to meet up. When there weren’t any jobs at 315Pro and the school day was over, the best place to go to keep hanging out was to one of their houses, and they all agreed that Hayato’s was the nicest. But today, they weren’t all meeting to casually discuss work or school; today, they were discussing the recent revelation that none of them ever could’ve been prepared for.  
  
“I’m just...I’m not even joking, man.” Haruna found himself face-to-face with two of his unitmates, both of whom were wearing the same face of shock that he had worn when he had the same bomb dropped on himself, “He just...really said that shit.”  
  
“But…” The band’s vocalist, Shiki, tried to get words out as he crashed down onto a nearby sofa, still piecing things together, “Like...did they break up or something?”  
  
“Shiki, it sounds like they weren’t even together in the first place!” Hayato spoke through the hands that covered his face as he rubbed his exhausted eyes, trying to figure out everything that had been said in the past few minutes, “Which...doesn’t make much sense to me...I’m not the only one who can’t wrap my head around this, right?”  
  
For ages, that particular trio had never had even a shadow of doubt that the remaining two members of their group were together. Pretty much all three of them agreed that Jun and Natsuki had been perfect for each other, what with Natsuki’s way of making the usually-stoic Jun smile, and the way that Jun could get the usually-timid Natsuki to come out of his shell even around strangers, it seemed they were a match made in heaven. So, when Haruna had declared an ‘emergency meeting’ to talk about those two, the immediate alarm bells in Hayato and Shiki’s heads had told them that something happened to their relationship, but they never could’ve anticipated the twist to be that there was no relationship for something bad to happen to in the first place.  
  
“I mean, like...I always thought they were together, man! I was always convinced they were just...just…y’know!” Haruna ran his hands through his hair with a sigh, seeming almost stressed over all this.  
  
“Same here, dude! You think I ever saw them as just friends??” Hayato was the next to speak up, the exasperation in his voice obvious.  
  
Before Haruna could reply to that, it seemed that the mega hyper vocalist had a question to ask, “Hayatochii, how long have you been under the impression that they were dating?”  
  
“Huh? Uhhh...ever since I first met them?” Hayato finally answered after a few moments to debate the question, “The way they talked about each other, e-especially Natsuki...I pieced it all together pretty quick so...”  
  
“Ever since day 1, huh?” Haruna questioned, brows raised as he asked, “So you really have always seen them like that?”  
  
Hayato nodded in response, closing his eyes as he took a moment to remember it all, “Pretty much, now that I think about it…”  
  


* * *

  
“So, uh...I’m sorry, again...” The boy awkwardly scratched the back of his head as he talked, his glance focused at the floor. This was the umpteenth time he’d apologised for his unorthodox introduction, but that didn’t make things any less awkward.  
  
After a few seconds of silence, the silver-haired boy whose name Hayato didn’t know decided to speak, sighing as he did so, “It’s ok, it was an accident…”  
  
Well, this wasn’t how Hayato had seen his day going. What had started off as him taking a look at some potential clubs to join had swiftly turned into a disaster, that disaster being him accidentally knocking out another student because he hadn’t paid any attention to what was going on around him. The awkward, humiliating task of having to carry this stranger off to the nurse’s office had been divided between himself and the poor student’s friend, who had witnessed the whole thing with a look of exasperated panic on his face. As if the green-haired boy didn’t feel bad enough about the whole thing, he'd worried someone else too.  
  
“Uhhh…” Hayato didn’t want the air to be any more tense than it already was. Luckily, he seemed to already have a topic on his mind, “S-So he used to be a piano prodigy?”  
  
“Yeah, he was...um...h-he doesn’t really play anymore, but…” The silver-haired boy nodded in conformation, his eyes gazing over at the student who was still out cold, “When he did…”  
  
“When he did…?” Hayato prompted for the other to finish the sentence, and found himself instinctually leaning in to get a better listen.  
  
“He was the best.”   
  
Within mere split seconds, the boy’s eyes were practically shining. The look on his face turned from solemn to almost euphoric before Hayato had realised it. “His piano playing...it was the most beautiful thing, it was practical perfection...the way you can just see all of the imagery and scenery from the mere sound alone, the way it invokes emotions...Jun’s piano playing...reaches the very depths of my heart every time I hear it…”  
  
Reaches of depths of his…?  
  
Oh.  
  
_Oh.  
  
__OH.  
  
_Oh, so their relationship was like _that_ , huh? Well, now Hayato felt even worse about having accidentally knocked the prodigy out, he punched the guy right in front of his boyfriend. Geez, he was considering himself lucky that this guy didn’t seem like the protective type of boyfriend, the last thing he needed on top of all the stress was revenge for an accidental punch-to-the-face.  
  
“Uh, well...you two seem super close! I, uh...still feel really bad about all this…” Hayato admitted, but before he could apologise more, the duo heard the sounds of what seemed like the piano player stirring.  
  
The conversation that followed took several turns, most of which were unexpected. Before Hayato had time to process all the individual bits and pieces, he was recruiting the two lovebirds into the light music club he wanted to join, and it seemed that the former pianist wasn’t exactly against it.  
  
“Natsuki…” He mumbled out a name as he turned to his friend...huh, so his name was apparently Natsuki. “I don’t think it’s a bad idea...Natsuki, let’s do this together!”  
  
Silence. After the pianist had said those words, his companion’s face turned almost blank as he zoned out, completely ignoring his surroundings for a few seconds. He was eerily silent, and seemed to be thinking through the idea. Hayato didn’t know what to expect for an answer, the guy was kinda quiet, and although his expression looked completely neutral, it seemed that underneath it all he was actually-  
  
_“A nosebleed!?”  
  
_Had the mere shock of it not caught Hayato off-guard, he probably would’ve burst into laughter right then and there. These two were gonna be fun, weren’t they? As the younger of the two, Jun, kept asking if his partner was ok, Hayato couldn’t help but shake his head with a smile at the sight. He could tell they were close, but he couldn’t help but wonder if this was a regular thing for them. Was Natsuki always like this, or was this something rare? What on Earth had gone on in that boy’s mind to elicit that kind of reaction?  
  
Well, either way, things were going to be interesting, and more importantly, he had someone, no, two someones joining him in his new dream of creating a band! Who ever could’ve known that him accidentally punching someone would lead to both him and his boyfriend becoming his friends?  
  
Him and his boyfriend, huh…  
  


* * *

  
...Except they apparently were never even boyfriends.  
  
“God, I...I really did genuinely believe they were always together...” Hayato confessed, “T-The way they spoke just...gave me those vibes, y’know?”  
  
“I get it completelyssu!” Shiki nodded, “I mean, I pretty much thought the same thing!”  
  
“You did, huh?” Haruna asked, looking lost in thought, “How long did it take you to figure it out, Shiki?”  
  
“Huh? Oh, well…” Shiki paused for a moment before nodding again, continuing on, “Well, I met Hayatochii first, so I met Natsukichii and Junchii a bit later, and...I kinda took one look at Natsukichii and I just knew he was gay.”  
  
“Damn, you psychic?” Haruna tilted his head as he spoke, grinning mischievously.  
  
“Nahh, it’s just a very finely-tuned gaydar!” Shiki grinned back, “But seriously...I knew Natsukichii wasn’t straight, I know who my fellow gays are, man! And then I heard Natsukichii talking about Junchii, and I was just like…'holy shit, he’s even less straight than I thought’.”  
  
“Y-Yeah!” Hayato nodded in agreement, “I mean...c’mon!! Natsuki’s just...so clearly in love…”  
  
“But it’s not just Natsukichii!” Shiki butted in, finally bouncing back up from the sofa to face Hayato, “I always got those same vibes from Junchii too! I always just thought he was super embarrassed of PDA to be open about it, but whenever those two talked I always got the idea that it was a mutual thing...”  
  
“Yeah, same…” Haruna nodded, “But I gotta say, Shiki, you sounded pretty confident for a moment there.”  
  
“Of course I amssu!” Shiki huffed, “They’re just...I’ve heard Junchii talk about Natsukichii in a pretty you-know way too before, I’m sure…”  
  


* * *

  
Studying for tests was always, always hard. Tests sucked, and Shiki firmly believed that school tests were just completely unnecessary. After all, he could just graduate on club activities instead, right? Hell, wasn’t that Haruna’s plan?  
  
Actually, speaking of Haruna, he was late.   
  
It was just the vocalist and the resident genius of the group, at the latter’s house, preparing to endure the hell known as studying for tests, all because of the cruel, cruel fate that had been decided by the school system. Tests well and truly sucked.   
  
“Junchiiiiiiiii, Junchiiiiiiiii…” The first-year was already whining, “I don’t understaaand.”  
  
“It’s because you’re not paying attention, Shiki-kun.” Jun sighed, “Focus yourself and pay attention, and also text Haruna-san whilst you’re at it. I swear, it feels like he’s ignoring my messages…”  
  
“He’s probably just being held upssu…” Shiki stretched, yawning out his next words, “But I don’t think he’s ignoring you, Junchii, you’re helping us both graduate. You’re the smartest person we know, y’know~!”  
  
“The smartest…?” Jun blinked in response to that, “Umm...thank you?”  
  
“You’re welcomesies!” Shiki beamed, his smile returning now that he was talking about something other than a school subject, “Well...I guess you and Natsukichii are the two smartest people I know. But...I think getting tutored by Natsukichii would be weird, he’d probably panic being front-and-centre and stuff.”  
  
“Hmmm...you’re probably right.” Jun responded after giving the idea some thought, “As much as I appreciate him, there’s a reason he doesn’t tend to do this kind of stuff. He’s just...awkward. But I don’t mean that in a bad way, bare in mind.”  
  
“Oh, of course you don’t~!” Shiki nodded, smiling at the keytarist before him, “I know you’d never insult him, you two are super closessu! It’s kinda cute!”  
  
“C-Cute??” Jun turned an almost violent shade of pink at that sentence, the whiplash of the sudden change in topic was visible on his face, “E-Excuse me??”  
  
“You know what I mean! You’re both adorable, y’know?” Shiki’s eyes were pretty much sparkling now that the topic had switched to _this_ ; he meant every last word of what he just said. He honestly did kind of find those two and their closeness cute, it kind of made him a bit jealous that he didn’t have a partner of his own. “I mean you two have been together for...how long?”  
  
Jun shook his head at Shiki’s random musings, trying to no avail to hide how off-guard the vocalist's 'cute' comment had caught him. Jun simply kept up his look of disapproval over Shiki's blatant evasion of his studying as he sighed out a response, “About...a decade or so by now, I believe…”  
  
_‘Holy crap…’_ Shiki caught himself thinking, his gaze still fixated on the flustered-looking Jun, _‘They’ve been dating ever since they were kids?? That’s dedication if I’ve ever seen itssu…’  
  
_“Awww-”  
  
“Shiki-kun, you can’t avoid studying by asking me irrelevant questions.” Jun quickly returned to his snappy tutor-mode as he recovered from the flustered mess he had been mere moments prior, “No distractions.”  
  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on a minute Junchii, it’s not irrelevant at all!” The gyaruo whined, admittedly there was a part of him that was trying to procrastinate studying as well, but he was genuinely invested in this topic, “You and Natsukichii are, like...mega super hyper importantssu! I mean, cuz, like...you’re certainly important to each other, right?”  
  
“R-Right…” Jun seemed to be approaching this topic cautiously, sighing again as he thought for a moment, “Why are you asking this?”  
  
“Just cuz I’m curiousssu!” Shiki smiled, “I mean...you seem to make Natsukichii happy, is all...it feels like he smiles super wide whenever you’re in the same room together...I-I tend to kinda forget he’s there because he’s so quiet, but it feels like whenever I do notice him, he has this sorta peaceful look, and he’s usually staring at you as he does so…”  
  
“I-I don’t get how you can just do that, Shiki-kun...forget he’s there, I mean.” Was Jun’s reply, and it wasn’t exactly tackling the subject Shiki thought it would, “I don’t know if it’s because you’re just so loud that you drown everyone else out, but...I don’t really lose track of him.”  
  
“You don’t?” Shiki’s eyes went a bit wide at that, taken aback by Jun's answer. Honestly, he meant it in the kindest way possible, but given how quiet Natsuki was, was it really possible to always be able to keep track of where he was? “But he’s so quiet…”  
  
“Maybe it’s just because...I can’t really forget he’s there, if that makes sense...Natsuki’s always been there, in my experience. Even if it’s silently, he’s always been there, by my side...no matter how I act, no matter how I am, no matter how...r-reserved I can be…” Jun’s expression changed to one of slight embarrassment as he admitted to that last part, though he quickly managed to recover back to a look of neutrality, “Regardless of any of that...he’s always been by my side, without fail. I’m used to his presence, his...oddly unconditional presence. I suppose, in a way...I never lose track of him because he’s never lost track of me. He’s…”  
  
A slight air of silence followed as Jun left the sentence hanging, Shiki found his curious head tilt returning as he tried to figure out why Jun had trailed that entire speech off, especially considering just how genuine it had all sounded. Shiki opened his mouth to speak, but as he did so, he noticed Jun’s look turning from side-to-side, all leading up to him sighing again, but this time with an odd sense of contentment.   
  
“...He’s a special person in my life, I suppose.”  
  
Ah, Shiki knew what that meant. The bright smile came to his face naturally at those words, and maybe some tears appeared in his eyes too. Damn, when Jun opened up, he could be pretty poetic, huh?   
  
A special person, huh? Shiki wasn’t stupid, he knew what a codeword was. That was clearly Jun’s way of saying ‘partner’, he was probably just back on his old habit of avoiding PDA. Or maybe he had to use codewords, maybe there was someone he couldn’t reveal his relationship status to and that forced him to be secretive. Either way, Shiki knew what Jun was trying to say, and he didn’t need any further clarification.   
  
“A-Anyway...” Jun coughed out the word before staring at Shiki, his piercing gaze swiftly knocked the heartwarmed smile off of the first-year’s face, “As I said, no distractions! That’s the last of me playing along with your procrastination, Shiki-kun. You can consider that to be your break, now open that book again.”  
  
Ok, ok, he couldn’t escape the dreaded studying forever. That was just fate, as unfortunate as it was. Even though he was mentally cursing the fact that he couldn’t avoid fate forever, he at least managed to keep that slightly warm feeling that had washed over him as he had heard Jun talk about his partner, for once it seemed like Shiki had seen that elusive side of Jun that he usually reserved for when he was alone with his beloved Natsuki…  
  


* * *

  
...except there was, apparently, no ‘beloved’ about it.  
  
“It makes no sense to messu…” Shiki’s tone shifted to one of confused disappointment, “I don’t get it…”  
  
“I’m still somewhat convinced that this is a prank or something...” Hayato sighed, rubbing his temple in frustration as he spoke, “Cuz it doesn’t make sense to me either...Jun can’t be that dense, right?”  
  
“I mean…shit, m-maybe he’s just book-smart and love-dumb?” Haruna suggested, awkwardly scratching the back of his head as he tried to think, “Then again...I mean, Natsuki is kind of obvious about it all, even if he doesn’t realise he is-”  
  
“Wait, if he what??” Shiki’s eyes widened as he took in Haruna’s words, it felt like every next word that came out of the drummer’s mouth was another plot twist. Shiki finally stood himself up straight, a look of almost annoyance on his face as he stared down his friend, shaking his head with a slightly irritated, no, _angry_ tone to his voice. “Ok, ok, ok! I get it now, you’re pranking us! Everything was flying over my head cuz you sounded so serioussu...but there’s no way Natsukichii doesn’t know how obvious he is!” He huffed, folding his arms in disapproval.   
  
“Dude, do you have any idea how badly I wish I was pranking you right now??” Haruna replied, his tone once again turning exasperated as he tried to convey just how likely this unlikely story truly was, “Trust me, the entire conversation I had with Natsuki about this was painful.”  
  
“So, he doesn’t realise…” Hayato spoke quietly, lamenting for a moment as he thought. However, almost immediately after Hayato had spoken those words to himself, the look on his face turned into one of surprise, as though a light bulb had gone off in his head, “Wait a minute...he doesn’t even realise!”  
  
In that one moment, everything changed. In that one moment, the fate of the light music club’s dearest members became sealed. In that one moment, the decision was made to take destiny into much, much more capable hands.   
  
With eyes that were practically sparkling, Hayato turned to his two fellow bandmates, a look of confidence on his face that naturally drew the other two in. With looks of curiosity, they decided to keep their gazes fixated on the leader of HighxJoker, who clenched his fist in determination.  
  
“Natsuki is smart. Jun is smart. They’re the two smartest people I know, so if not even Natsuki knows...then neither does Jun, right?” Hayato rambled for a moment, gesturing as he talked, pacing up and down the room as he admittedly just said the first words to come to mind, “So...maybe Haruna is right! Jun might just be book-smart and love-dumb!”  
  
“I mean, Junchii wasn’t the best conversationalist when we first met him!” Shiki butted in, adding onto Hayato’s point, “So I guess even though he’s pretty smartssu, he’s never quite been people-smart, y’know?”  
  
“Unless it’s Natsuki…” Haruna muttered under his breath, eliciting another stressed noise of confused agreement from the Shiki who was standing beside him.  
  
“Jun’s smart...but he doesn’t have enough experience with love to realise Natsuki’s feelings, and it’s the same way for Natsuki! If we all got it correct, Jun totally feels the same, so...they both love each other and haven’t realised it’s mutual, right?” Hayato continued on with his speech, taking occasional glances at his unitmates as he also continued his pacing, “So...we just have to make them realise that!”  
  
“Realise it?” Shiki asked, head tilted in confusion, “Hayatochii? What are you getting at…?”  
  
“I’m...I’m getting at that we set those two up with one another!” Hayato revealed, the sparkle in his eyes intensifying as he grinned, his past few moments of pacing and thought finally accumulating into an elaborate plan, “If it’s mutual on both ends...then we gotta see them get together! We can’t let them just painfully pine forever, you guys!”  
  
“So...you want us to play matchmaker, huh?” Haruna asked, a teasing grin on his face as he raised a brow in suspicion, “This sounds like it’s gonna be good, please continue.”  
  
“I’m not joking, goddamn it!” Hayato pouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Haruna as he explained, “I just...it pains me to think of those two getting all the way through high school without ever confessing their feelings, y’know? So I think it’d be a nice thing for us to do, to help them out a bit...a-anyway, I know that Shiki’s probably already on board at least, so-”  
  
“I was on board the moment the words came out of your mouth, Hayatochii.” Shiki confessed, his eyes filled with the same excited spark that Hayato’s had been filled with mere moments ago, “I wanna help those two out too! It’ll be cutessu!”  
  
“So...w-we’ll just help Natsuki and Jun out ourselves!” Hayato spoke with words that had a strangely nervous hint of confidence to them, though his unitmates could see the look of uncertainty on his face as he had said that, “We’ll, uh...figure something out, I guess…?”  
  
“Jesus Christ, I can’t watch this any longer than I can watch our resident star-crossed lovers pine.” Haruna rolled his eyes with a laugh, shaking his head as he looked on at this display, “I ain’t lettin’ you two hog all the fun! I want in too, man. I never said I was against this idea, I just think it’s gonna be a hell of a ride, is all.”  
  
“Hell of a ride is just another way of saying ‘super mega hyper funssu’, Harunachii!” Shiki pointed out with an enthusiastic smile, a face of pure delight present as he talked, “So, we’re all in agreement? We’re gonna help those two out?”  
  
“Sure!” Hayato nodded, a look of what finally seemed to be legitimate confidence on his face as he confirmed, “I’ve...admittedly never been in a relationship myself, so I have no idea how any of this will work, but we’ll figure something out!”  
  
“Me neither!” Shiki shrugged, the volume of his usual hyperactive tone turning down a bit as he gave his relationship status some thought, “Maybe we can learn a thing or two from setting these guys up together!”  
  
...Actually, now that Hayato gave it thought, did anyone in this unit actually have any experience with relationships? The group's mission was revolved entirely around the subject of love, and it seemed that none of them had ever studied it before. Maybe this whole helping-two-people-in-love thing was going to be harder than he realised.  
  
“G-Great...H-Haruna, what about you?” Hayato asked nervously, hoping that the oldest member could be the group's saving grace, “You’re a cool guy, you’ve had to have at least one relationship before, right? Cuz if not, this group is...seriously lacking in good people to take love advice from. Aka we’re screwed.”  
  
“Uhh...ummm...hmmm…” Haruna paused for a moment, pressing a hand to his head as he tried his best to think, “Let’s see...I think…”  
  
“Haruna, it’s really not a good sign if you have to give it thought.” Hayato pointed out, his voice completely deadpan as his faith in the trio’s little mission began to dwindle.  
  
“Does a week-long relationship I had in first year count?” Haruna asked after a few moments, the look on his face acknowledging how non-reassuring that sentence sounded, “Look, it’s fine...it can’t be that hard to make them confess, right? They already like each other, the easy part’s already dealt with! If we were trying to make them fall in love we’d be down an entirely different road!”  
  
“We have spirit, and that’s what matters!” Shiki piped up, smiling as he tried to reassure the two, “Spirit should count for something after allssu!”  
  
“Yeah, you’re right, Shiki…” Hayato took a moment to take in a deep breath, followed by a deep breath out, and then followed by a sincere smile as he nodded to himself in affirmation, “Alright! Us three...are somehow...gonna get those two together!”  
  
Maybe Shiki was right. Maybe something as simple as 'spirit' was what mattered best after all. Maybe Jun and Natsuki would just appreciate the fact that their dear friends at least tried, or maybe in some brilliant twist of fate, the three would be oddly talented at this, natural romantics with a flair for passion and showing their love...or, well, making Jun and Natsuki show their love. Even if the plan was't solidly together yet and was more of a concept, it seemed that the trio just simply being on the same page was a good enough start for now; after all, them all agreeing to help their two pining friends was better than leaving the two to their own devices, forever avoiding their obvious feelings and pretending there simply wasn't an incredibly noticeable romantic tension present.   
  
Sure, no one in the group had experience with love or romance. But neither did Natsuki nor Jun, so at least that was something they couldn't be faulted too much on. The fact they'd even all picked up on Natsuki's crush in the first place instantly put them several steps ahead of the hopeless duo when it came to figuring out the complexities of love, and that at least gave Hayato a weirdly vague sense of relief, that maybe this plan wasn't going to be completely and utterly terrible, that perhaps there was a shining light at the end of the tunnel after all.  
  
“Yay!” Shiki cheered, “We’re gonna be the best Cupid squad ever!”  
  
“Nice...hey, that’s a good point. If we’re some weird lovey-dovey angel squad, we need a badass squad name.” Haruna pointed out, trying to think again, “Let’s see...what would be good…”  
  
“The super hyper mega ultra giga-love romantic heartfelt heartwarming overflow love MAX cupid squadron!” Shiki declared proudly, “Or the SHMUGLRHHOLMCS for short!”  
  
“...How did you memorise all that?” Hayato asked, a hint of almost concern to his voice as he posed the question, “A-Anyway...I’d prefer something a bit smaller and easier to memorise-”  
  
However, almost as if on queue, the very moment Hayato was done saying ‘memorise’, Haruna was already speaking up, a shit-eating look of pride on his face as he spoke, “Cupidiots.”  
  
The slight air of silence that followed after that particular suggestion seemed to be a response in of itself; however, instead of taking the hint, Haruna just remained as was, still grinning as though he'd come up with an absolutely genius name that no one could ever top in a million years.   
  
"...So, Shiki, what's the acronym for your name suggestion again?" Hayato asked, speaking with a completely flat voice as he avoided Haruna's smug gaze.  
  
“We don't need it when Harunachi's suggestion is just so...perfect!” Shiki’s response seemed laced with sarcasm, as evidenced by the snarky smile of irritation on his face, “It’s, like, perfect!! It sums us up so well!”  
  
“No it doesn't!?” Hayato interrupted, a stressed look present on his face as he tried to get the group back on track. Even if he could tell that the Haruna was messing around with the name suggestion, he didn’t want the guy taking Shiki's sarcastic remark as one of approval. “C-Can we pick something cooler-”  
  
“No.” Haruna said matter-of-factly, unwilling to budge on this, “We’re three idiots who don’t know shit about love trying to get two love-dumb people together. This whole situation is incredibly stupid in the best way possible, so our name needs to reflect that.”  
  
“The true stupidity is the fact that Natsukichii and Junchii haven’t just asked each other out after, like, 10 years…” Shiki muttered, seeming to have just chosen to ignore Haruna’s reasoning for the group name.  
  
“I don’t think they’ve had crushes since they were children, Shiki...I think…” Hayato replied in a low mumble, before clearing his throat and speaking up louder, “I hate the group name, but it’ll do for now. Alright, you two!”  
  
Still carrying a look of pure yet unfounded conviction, Hayato reached his hand out towards the other two group members, smiling as he readied himself for another speech. As he reached out with his hand, it seemed that Shiki and Haruna realised what he was doing, and placed their hands on top of his, readying for a celebration.   
  
“As the leader of HighxJoker, and as-of-now self-appointed leader of our Cupid squad...I promise, no, _vow_ that our mission is not over until Natsuki and Jun have admitted their love to one another! They’re perfect together, they’ve liked each other for ages, we gotta get those two together for their own sakes! So...here’s to good luck with this mission, you two!”  
  
“God knows we’ll need it!” Haruna agreed with a weirdly-enthusiastic tone, grinning again as the trio all raised their joined hands in celebration.  
  
“Alrighty-o, Cupids! We got two people to get together, so let’s get brainstorming some ideasies!” Shiki suggested, seeming eager to get on with this work, “My suggestion: we set up some elaborate fancy date for them and see what happens!”  
  
“Wait, we need to figure out what kind of date! We gotta bear in mind it needs to be something that those two would actually like!” Hayato pointed out, quickly interrupting Shiki before the hyper max vocalist had any chance to snowball that idea into anything grandiose or bizarre, “Alright, that’s our first task! Figure out what kind of date they’d like!”  
  
And so, that fateful night became the night where the road that the light music club had been walking on suddenly changed. Two people who had previously been reluctant with their open feelings had their path forward altered without either of them even realising it, both blissfully unaware of the future that awaited thanks to three determined idiots and a lack of impulse control.   
  
For the next few hours, the three of them sat around, eagerly discussing potential dates with one another, all exchanging ideas back and forth as they simply reinforced the passion they shared in making sure that this group succeeded with the one simple task of making sure that two love-dumb idols finally got round to confessing their feelings towards one another.   
  
As the setting sun signalled to the three that it was time to part ways for the night, the two who headed home did so with the thought that tomorrow would be the beginning of something amazing, whilst the one who remained in his own home began to organise everything, quickly jotting down the ideas the group had collected as they’d brainstormed everything for the perfect operation. If there was one thing that all three of them were certain on, it was that they weren’t going to let this fail.  
  
Their mission was a simple one, and that mission was something they all wanted to see come true with all their hearts and souls:  
  
To see the day when Natsuki and Jun finally said those three precious words to one another.  
  
  
  
...However, as they were yet to see, said mission was going to be an incredibly painful one, and no amount of determination was going to change that.


	2. The Love Guru

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first day of Sanbaka's brilliant plan...but problems are already starting to arise. Surely, there must be somebody who can help them in their time of need...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is finally here!!  
> I'm so sorry for how long this took, life stuff tm got in the way and I also just generally struggled with how to piece all of this together, I hope I don't take as long to do Chapter 3 jfhrjeksghrjkhr
> 
> Anyways this is the chapter where my headcanons start to come in, so...I hope this is still good even though this is just me writing self-indulgent fluff asdfghjkl hope y'all enjoy

Day 1.   
  
The very first day of the three idols’ plan had finally come. After having spent hours and hours the previous night scheming the most perfect, the most brilliant, the most amazing plan possible to get their oblivious unitmates together, they finally had a concise direction to go in.   
  
Today was day 1, which meant it was the mere beginning, part 1 of their grand plan.   
  
As the three self-proclaimed “Cupidiots” (a name that Shiki and Hayato had finally cracked and accepted after realising they had no better name suggestions) headed into school that very morning, they knew this was the beginning of something magical. Once they headed into the light music club’s room, it was time to start…  
  
...well, actually, they needed to get one more thing out the way first.  
  
“You what?” Hayato blinked, his voice almost deadpan as he took in the words that were just spoken.  
  
“I-I don’t like tests, Harunachii!” Shiki whined, the bright smile that had previously been on his face wiped away at the mention of that one terrifying word.  
  
“No, not that kind of test, Shiki.” Haruna, the one who had instigated his unitmates’ disgruntled moods, shook his head as he clarified, “I’ve been stewing on things, and I realised something...to make this plan work, we need to truly test Natsuki and Jun. We need to see just how oblivious those two are to the beautiful intricacies of love.”  
  
“The beautiful intri...uh, I’m not following?” Hayato admitted, a look of confusion as he stared down Haruna, before taking a slight glance at Shiki to see if he understood either. One look at the first year’s face told Hayato that no, he didn’t understand what Haruna was getting at either. “Care to explain, oh-wise-and-powerful love guru?”  
  
“Love guru...that’s a pretty cool title.” Shiki mentioned, his face turning from a confused frown to its usual smile as he thought for a bit, “Harunachii, how do you feel about that cool title?”  
  
“I was jo-”  
  
“Awww, it feels so flattering~!” Haruna teased, grinning at the two before him before clearing his throat. His look suddenly turned uncharacteristically serious as he proceeded to speak up again, “Anyway, we need to test them...as established, they totally both like each other, but they’re also too oblivious to realise it’s mutual, right? So...I’m thinking, to make sure our plan is 100% completely foolproof...we need to test if they’re even more oblivious than we realise or not, y’know?”  
  
Oh, now that Haruna mentioned it, that did seem like a good idea. After all, if these two were even more painfully unaware than predicted, the plan would need to change so that all of the hours of planning weren’t for nothing. On the flip side of that, if they weren’t as romantically-idiotic as their friends had given them credit for, they could adjust the plan so it’d be a little more subtle.   
  
“Ok, ok, I hear you...it seems like it’d be a good idea to see just what level of obliviousness we’re up against!” Hayato nodded in affirmation, seeming on-board with the idea so far, “Uhh, my only question is...what is the test exactly?”  
  
“I thought you’d never ask.” Haruna replied, the smile on his face was oddly confident as the drummer spoke, “We need to figure out if they actually know what flirting is or not. So...the three of us are going to discuss a totally made-up story about two of our classmates-”  
  
“Which ones?” Shiki raised his hand as he asked his question, cutting off Haruna’s explanation. “I have a ton of classmates and I don’t have any of their permissions to talk about them behind their back.”  
  
“...Shiki, he said ‘made-up’.” Hayato re-emphasised the point, shaking his head as he directed his attention back to Haruna, “So...I’m guessing we can just use a random pair of made-up names, huh?”  
  
“Indeed. We make up a random story about two totally fake people, who both have blatantly obvious feelings for each other that they won’t admit to…” Haruna continued his explanation, amidst all the gestures accompanying his words was a plan that was beginning to actually make a bit of sense, “But at no point do we ever say that these two people are actually in love. We’re gonna leave it up to Natsuki and Jun to put the pieces together themselves.”  
  
“Ahh, so that way, if they don’t actually have anything to say about the story...they’re clearly oblivious to love!” Shiki summarised, nodding with nothing short of enthusiasm as he processed everything, “And if they pick up on it, we know we’re not working with a totally impossible case here!”  
  
“Wow, that...actually makes a lot of sense.” Hayato’s voice carried a surprised tone with it, he honestly hadn’t expected this idea to actually be that helpful, but it seemed that Haruna had put a surprising amount of thought into it. “Alright! Let’s get in there and test those two!”  
  
“Hell yeah, that’s the spirit!” Haruna grinned, holding his hands up in celebration of his plan being accepted.   
  
After Shiki and Hayato paused for a moment to high-five their fellow Cupidiot, the trio were all dashing to their usual morning hang-out, the light music club’s oh-so-magical clubroom. In merely a couple of minutes, they were already stood before the very door of destiny itself, ready to finally kickstart this crazy little plan of theirs. With little-to-no hesitation, Shiki practically slammed the door open, apparently deciding that subtlety wasn’t the way forward.  
  
“Oh, so you three actually do care about attendance?” Were the first words the three of them were greeted with as they made their way into the room, courtesy of one annoyed-looking Jun Fuyumi. “You’re cutting it incredibly close to class time, you three. Care for an explanation?”  
  
The clubroom was in the state that the three of them all expected it to be in: spotless, organised, the table in the centre of the room neatly stacked with all sorts of books and stationary. Of course, when the two smart members of the group were left all alone inside the room together, they’d end up ensuring the place didn’t become a mess, and of course they’d start studying together. Well, that wasn’t how it was going to stay for long. Once the plan was fully in action, those two would have another thing to discuss with each other all by themselves.  
  
Speaking of the two in general, they seemed to be...in their usual states. The two were sat next to one another, Natsuki’s expression in its usual blank look of complete neutrality, though the three cupids had no doubt that he must have had the corniest of smiles whilst he was alone with the person of his dreams. Jun, on the other hand, just wore a look of irritation, staring at the three who entered the room as if to demand that they answer his question as soon as possible. He cared deep down, but he was also kind of scary when he was in disciplinary mode.   
  
“Look, we got super distractedssu! Our bad!” Shiki answered the irritated boy with a shrug. Before either of his companions could contribute their own explanation, Shiki was already turning to them with a knowing look, one that told them it was finally time. “Anyways, as I was saying, you two! Yuikachii won’t stop talking about those two, she says it’s really uncanny or something!”  
  
Hayato was almost 100% certain that Shiki was using the word uncanny incorrectly, and also had a slight feeling that Haruna hadn’t been paying attention as he had spoken, as the slight pause of silence made evident. Now that Hayato thought things through, the three really should’ve co-ordinated what this fake story they were going to tell was instead of just ad-libbing it all. Well, even if there was no choice now but to improvise, Hayato was still going to play along, he just needed to grab a random name off the top of his head to use for one of these fictional classmates...ah, of course!  
  
“Huh...so, you’re saying this Subaru girl is just all over her friend?” Hayato joined in with Shiki’s rambles, trying to look quizzitive as he spoke, “Like...all the time?”  
  
“Mhm, mhm! That’s what Yuikachii’s saying at least!” Shiki nodded in confirmation, the smile on his face making it clear that he was happy to see Hayato jumping in on this story, “It’s been bugging her for ages now!”  
  
Ok, it seemed Shiki didn’t intend to name this Subaru person’s friend-possible-lover, and Hayato couldn’t think of any other names to use, so that meant it was up to Haruna to come up with the third name.  
  
And it seemed he had caught onto that, made clear by the way he suddenly interjected into the conversation, apparently having started paying attention at some point. “So, to summarise...your classmate, Yuika, told you about these two girls named Subaru and Yayoi who are all over each other? Like...are these two close friends or something?”   
  
“Apparently, they’re, like, childhood bffs or something.” Shiki shrugged, and right as he said that, he oh-so-subtly pulled up a chair, finally seating himself at the table in the light music club room. As he spoke, he took just the tiniest glance at Natsuki and Jun, still smiling, “Apparently they’ve known each other years.”  
  
Jesus Christ, Shiki was being too obvious. Both Hayato and Haruna were starting to get nervous, maybe they’d been a little bit too on-the-nose with the example. It was way too late to change the story now that Shiki had confirmed it, which meant that-  
  
“So the three of you were nearly late as you were busy discussing gossip?” Jun blinked, the irritated look still present on his face. “I see your priorities are incredibly straight.”  
  
“There’s nothing straight about this plan, dude…” Was what Hayato had heard Haruna muttering under his breath, which seemed to get a slight laugh out of the guitarist…  
  
“Is something funny, Hayato?” ...that Jun had picked up on. “Besides, why are the three of you so fussed about the private lives of people you don’t know?”   
  
“Just cuz, it’s an interestin’ story, Junchii!” Shiki shrugged again, trying to play it cool as he explained, “I mean...two people who are super duper close and everythingssu, but it seems like there’s no reason for it...Yuikachii says that Subaruchii and Yayoichii are, like, way more obsessed with each other than their other friends.”  
  
“So?” Jun was clearly unamused with Shiki’s false anecdote, he closed one of the textbooks he had open as he sighed, “You invade people’s personal space all the time, Shiki-kun, and although I find it weird I never mention it to anybody else.”  
  
Although Shiki immediately opened his mouth to try and refute what Jun had said (it’s not his fault he gets too close, he just loves his friends!), he found his opportunity for a reply cut off by a certain someone who finally decided to speak up.  
  
“Have you...maybe…” Natsuki spoke quietly, his gaze shifting from side-to-side as he realised everyone was now looking at him, “Um...I admittedly don’t know...anything about these two girls, but...um...maybe they...they…”  
  
“Natsuki, are you seriously about to contribute to this gossip?” Jun asked, a disapproving look on his face as he started placing his books in his bag, he looked like he was one more dumb sentence away from straight-up leaving, “It’s got nothing to do with us.”  
  
“I-I know, but...um...to me, it sounds like…” Natsuki kept his gaze on Jun, and for just the slightest moment, the other three members of HighxJoker could’ve sworn that they all made out a slight blush on his face as he had done so. Silently, the bassist turned to his friends, and once again began to talk. “...That those two girls you mentioned...might be in love.”  
  
He wasn’t completely oblivious. Hallelujah.  
  
It was almost like osmosis, that Natsuki could immediately pick up on the message that the three had been trying to send. It was like him having been the in-love childhood friend for so long had made him able to see himself in those two completely made-up girls’ shoes. It was a relief for all three of the cupids to have at least one of their two targets realise what they had been trying to do, opposed to Jun’s less patient responses.  
  
“...There’s not enough evidence to go on that two complete strangers we don’t know are in love.” Jun suddenly spoke up, a surprise that managed to attract the attention of everyone in the room, “They could just be close friends.”  
  
“My God…” Hayato mumbled under his breath, instinctively clasping a hand to his mouth as he realised that had come out a bit louder than intended.. They needed to make things more obvious, they needed to see how far they could take this. Suddenly, he cleared his throat, and turned back to Shiki. With a hand on Shiki’s shoulder to try and grab his attention back, Hayato spoke up once more. “So, this Subaru and Yayoi...just how close are they again?”  
  
“Childhood friends, as I said.” Was all Shiki answered with, though the fact Hayato tightened his grip on the guy’s shoulder was enough of an indicator that he needed more information. Honestly, Shiki thought this entire covert operation was like something out of a spy movie, what with all the secret messages and subtleties that they couldn’t convey to Jun and Natsuki...it was super cool, and that was a thought Shiki probably would’ve allowed to run a bit longer had Hayato not lightly shook him to snap him out of his daze. “Oh, uhh...well, apparently Subaruchii is always droning on about how cool Yayoichii is. It seems that Yayoichii doesn’t really do the same, but apparently she’s been caught saying how cute and nice Subaruchii is when Subaruchii isn’t around.”  
  
“See?” Jun shrugged, finally standing up, seeming to have grown tired of this conversation. “Clearly, they’re just friends. After all, don’t you three always like to drone on about how much you think others are cool too? Besides, even if either of them had feelings for the other, it’s none of your business, you three.” With a huff, Jun began to approach the door to the room, still wearing a look of boredom as he left, “I’m heading to class, and I expect the rest of you to do the same. Come on Natsuki, let’s go.”  
  
The words were barely out of Jun’s mouth before his faithful friend was already running to catch up to him, trailing behind his friend as he gave the other three boys a nod of acknowledgement, as if to say that he hadn’t forgotten to say bye. The silver-haired young man closed the clubroom’s door quietly behind him, leaving behind a perfectly-organised table, and three of his unitmates, who all stood in silence for a few seconds as the situation dawned on them all.   
  
Dear God, Jun Fuyumi was barely aware of what counted as romance.   
  
“Ho...”  
  
“...ly…”  
  
“Crapssu.”  
  
“Jesus Christ, what was that?” Haruna was the first of the three to say something with a look other than dumbfounded surprise, “Is he that badly in denial, or have we missed something important?”  
  
“He sounded just the tiniest bit defensive to messu…” Shiki pointed out, a pout on his face as he folded his arms, “Maybe...maybe he kinda figured out what we were hinting at? He is the smartest of the the five of us, yah’know?”  
  
“Same, but...I don’t know, it feels like he would’ve been a bit more direct if he figured it out...maybe?” Hayato’s tone was laced with nothing short of confusion, he seemed indecisive on whether or not to agree with what Shiki was suggesting, “But then again...argh, I can totally believe that he’s oblivious given he’s never noticed any of Natsuki’s hints, but…”  
  
“But dude, those answers they both gave felt completely on-brand!” Haruna pointed out, wildly gesturing as he paced up and down, trying to make sense of everything, “Natsuki realised what we were doing because we basically just called out his usual method, and...Jun couldn’t comprehend the idea of two people who have known each other that long actually being in a relationship. It totally makes sense, like, almost too much sense.”  
  
“Jeez...well, if there’s anything to take away from there, maybe Natsuki’s not too much of a lost cause for us.” Hayato pointed out, trying to lighten the mood a little with some positivity, “It’s just...Jun’s gonna be the tough one. And he’s probably gonna be a bit tougher if we end up nearly being late again.”  
  
“Oh crap, it is actually pretty close to class time...Junchii’s gonna kill us if we’re late!” Shiki whined, standing himself up as he worriedly looked over at the other two in the room, “W-We’re just gonna have to discuss this later, at 315…”  
  
“Mhm…” Haruna nodded, he finally stopped his pacing as he processed everything Hayato and Shiki had said. However, right as it seemed like the three had silently agreed to part ways, he was already speaking again. “Actually, I just got one question left...how did you two come up with the names Yuika and Subaru?”  
  
Almost like magic, it seemed that both Shiki and Hayato had answered almost in unison, practically timing their responses with perfection.   
  
“Oh, I just went with the name of my cousin!”  
  
“I have a cousin called Subaru.”  
  
“No way!” Haruna’s eyes lit up as the two answered, a look of approval on his face, “I went with the same thing! My cousin’s name is Yayoi!” As the trio made their way out of the club room, a grinning Haruna rested a hand on Hayato’s shoulder, making one last comment before the three could head to class, “Maybe at some point we need to let the fabled Subaru and Yayoi duo meet?”

* * *

315Productions was an eventful place, most of the time. HighxJoker was just one of the several units employed there, and when it came to all of the different people who were also employed there, a few certain members of HighxJoker tended to be among the loudest there. As a result, on days such as that particular day, where the office was mostly-empty due to an influx of jobs and mini-lives, it became a lot harder to miss those louder members.  
  
“So...you three are trying to get those two together?” The Producer nodded, having overheard enough bits and pieces of the boys’ conversation to have become intrigued, which eventually prompted them to just straight up ask what they were discussing so fervently among themselves. Safe to say, an elaborate plan to pair up two of their unitmates wasn’t what they had expected. “...If anything, I’m a bit surprised they aren’t already together.”  
  
“Right!!” Haruna agreed, gesturing to the Producer with an exasperated look as the group all nodded at them. “So it’s not just us three who think they like each other??”  
  
“I thought they were a couple when I scouted them.” Producer admitted casually, shrugging their shoulders as they went on, “And if you’re curious, what tipped me off was everything about the way Natsuki addressed Jun...and the fact Jun seems to smile a lot around him.”  
  
“You understand...you understand...” Hayato mumbled the words to himself a few times, with a voice that sounded almost choked-up as he took in the Producer’s words, “We had this cool idea to get ‘em to go on a date or something, but...now I’m scared that they’re not gonna realise it’s a date! They’re just...so...so...I can’t think of any words to fit them besides ‘oblivious’.”  
  
“Yeah, and the fact neither me nor Hayatochii have relationship experience ain’t helpin’ our confidence here.” Shiki pointed out sadly, taking a few seconds to seemingly lament his own relationship status once again before adding on, “Right now, Harunachii’s our most experienced operative.”  
  
“Operative?” Haruna repeated the word back with a chuckle, looking over at the dejected-looking Shiki, “You’re making us sound like some badass agency or something.”  
  
“Maybe we should treat it as a badass agency! Then we get cool codenames and stuff!” Shiki pointed out, having already bounced back from the slump he was in over his own singleness, “Harunachii, our wise Love Guru, is our leader, and-”  
  
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! I’m the leader, I called it last night!” Hayato interjected, a look of red on his face as he protested Shiki’s decision, “Who’s idea was all this in the first place? And who actually is the leader of HighxJoker?”  
  
“You self-declared yourself the leader, Hayatochii!” Shiki whined, a face of almost guilt present as he explained his reasonings, “That doesn’t sound democraticssu! This should be fair, aka we should choose our leader!”  
  
“Besides, who here has the most experience?” Haruna bounced back from Hayato’s words the moment Shiki was done talking, it seemed almost like he had that retort readied from the get-go, “Until one of you two has had a relationship, I’m the leader.”  
  
Although Haruna had been sure that that reply would shut Hayato up completely, or at the very least just elicit a few more whiny comebacks, Hayato’s response was out swiftly, cold and almost toneless as he answered. “Shiki, date me.”  
  
“What!?” The word had come out of both Shiki and Haruna’s mouths simultaneously, neither of them had anticipated this particular plot twist. “Dude, we’re getting Jun and Natsuki together, not you and Shiki!”  
  
“Shiki, date me. I’m not letting Haruna be the leader, he wasn’t even paying attention earlier! AND he just said that once one of us has more experience we’re the leader. If we date for a week, I’m the leader.” Hayato laid out the plan sternly, his focus fixated purely on Shiki as he spoke, “It’s fair that way, _and_ if you agree with me we can have cool codenames and everything you just mentioned.”  
  
“Aww damn it, that’s super tempting…” Shiki’s tone was one that carried a genuine tone of stress, almost as though this prospect was one of the toughest and most important decisions he could make in life, “Damn...Harunachii, you’re gonna have to make a serious case for yourself here or I’m gonna be Hayatochii’s partner.”  
  
“Shiki, I won't lie, I’m half-tempted to stay quiet just to see if Hayato would actually go through with this.” Haruna admitted bluntly, a shit-eating grin on his face, “Aight. Let’s see...my current record is about...just over a week or so-”  
  
“You say ‘record’ like you’ve had more than a single relationship.” Hayato quickly pointed out, his tone much more casual and relaxed now that the possibility of having his precious leader position returned to him was on the table.  
  
“...Let’s say 7, maybe 8-ish days?” However, his interruptions seemed to do nothing to phase the drummer. “Aight, if you guys date for 8 days, you’re both leader. Until then, I’m in charge.”   
  
“You’re on.” Hayato nodded with a look of determination, “Enjoy your last 8 days of being the Love Guru, Haruna.”  
  
“...I have no clue what I just witnessed, and I’m frankly too scared to ask any of the several, uncountable, many questions I have.” The three’s random bickering seemed to have been cut short by the familiar voice from nearby. The three members of HighxJoker turned to face the Producer; in the midst of their squabble they had forgotten that the Producer had actually been talking to them beforehand. “But uhhh...I mean, wouldn’t your plan work a bit better if you guys had an actual love guru to go to with your whole setting-up-a-date problem?”  
  
“Don’t worry, Producer-chan! Me and Hayatochii will be experts in 8 days!” Shiki butted in, having apparently made up his mind on Hayato’s weird proposal.   
  
“I mean someone a bit more experienced than a teenager who just confessed his feelings out of spite.” The Producer clarified with an exhausted sigh, “But...if you guys really want to talk to somebody about love...I think the person you want to talk to is in the building today.”  
  
The person they want to talk to? Was the Producer saying that there was somebody at 315Pro, someone actually more competent, who could educate them on the beautiful intricacies of love? There was someone who would actually help them on their quest to get their unitmates together, and would do so in a way that wouldn’t cause people to start literally dating each other over leadership? The idea sounded amazing, but who on Earth at 315Pro was amazingly experienced with love, and also pretty intelligent and organised on top of it?  
  
The answer to that question came to the three in a flash, and before any of them realised it, they were all standing before that person. Right then and there, on the rooftop of 315Productions, where the three had admittedly just slammed open the door and prayed that their destined target was alone, was exactly who they needed to talk to in order to formulate the most perfect plan to ever exist. There, right before them, with either of his unitmates stood either side of him as though to simply guard the expert himself and add to his shining aura, was one Hokuto Ijuuin.  
  
“Please, help us!” The three all begged in unison, Hayato’s hands together in almost prayer, Shiki huddled onto the floor practically bowing in the presence of the one who had held power the three of them could only ever dream of having, and Haruna looking on with a pleading look in his eyes as he took the initiative, “We need to engineer a huge romantic confession scenario for someone right now immediately, and you’re our only hope!”  
  
There were a few seconds of almost eerie silence, where nobody spoke, not any of the members of HighxJoker, and neither did anybody in the famed trio of Jupiter. The mere presence of the fabled true love guru himself was almost overwhelming, his radiant and dazzling ambience made it clear with no words spoken that he was the one that these three had truly been seeking the help of all along.  
  
It seemed as though aeons had passed before the silence was finally broken, and not by the one they had requested the assistance of.   
  
“Hokuto-kun, it seems they need you to work your magic~!” Shouta teased, snickering a bit at how overly-dramatic the members of HighxJoker were being, “Are you gonna help ‘em out?”  
  
“Well, I’m not one to turn down a person in need, or three persons for that matter.” Was the answer that the guru himself gave, a finger rested to his chin as he thought through the predicament, “What exactly is going on, you three? You sound...uh, desperate.”  
  
“We are desperate! We have a sworn mission and everything, but no knowledge on how to pull it off!” Shiki whined, sitting himself up, though he seemed to make no effort to get himself up off the floor, “We need to know how to get together two people who totally have feelings for each other but won’t admit to it!”  
  
“Ah, so you’re playing matchmaker, huh?” The wise man nodded to himself as if to mentally note that, a smile appearing on his face as he spoke, “Well, different people have different tastes, and different views on love. I’ll gladly help you three out, but I’m going to need to know more about who these two people are first.”  
  
“His aura is so professional…” Hayato got the words out in a weak whimper, seeming almost overwhelmed by the man’s mere presence, the sparkle in his eyes similar to the one he’d had when he’d first hatched this strange operation of theirs.  
  
“People usually say that about our idol aura...” Touma pointed out, having finally spoken up among all the weirdness that had played out in front of him. Honestly, him and Shouta had silently planned to stay out of all this, this was clearly Hokuto’s job, “...not...l-love aura…”  
  
“As if you even have a love aura, Touma-kun.” Shouta nonchalantly took the opportunity to take a jab at Touma, and based on the immediate look of anger on the older boy’s face, it seemed to have been a jab worth taking to the teen.  
  
Ignoring the looks Touma and Shouta were giving one another, Hokuto shook his head, an almost fond look on his face, one that said he was used to those two being like this. He instead turned his attention back to the three teens who had sought out his help, and who all still seemed to be in a slightly star-struck state. As Touma had said, he was more used to people being awestruck by his performance as an idol, and even though he did have a more flirtatious stage image, being approached and asked to help play cupid was a first.  
  
“Thank you, Hokutochii!” Shiki eventually managed to get himself stood back up, thanking the idol for his agreement to help the boys out. With a smile of relief, he gave his two unitmates a look that spoke with confidence, “Ok, with an actual Love Guru on our side, we’ve got this for certain!”  
  
“Yeah, Natsuki and Jun are gonna be all over one another in no time!” Hayato nodded, he only had to hold his hand out for a second before the other two were already high-fiving it, all of their moods drastically boosted knowing they had a new teammate.   
  
Though said teammate had something to say first.  
  
“W-Wait...Sakaki-kun and Fuyumi-kun?” Hokuto spoke up, a puzzled tone to his voice as he asked the question, “I thought you were playing matchmaker?”  
  
“We aressu!” Shiki nodded to reaffirm the point, looking over at the Hokuto who wore a look of confusion as the boy answered him, “We thought this entire time that Junchii and Natsukichii were totally a couple and everything, and then we found out they’ve actually just been friends the whole time we’ve known them, and now we’re trying to actually get them together for realsies!”  
  
There was a pause. In the presence of such love royalty, the silence was deafening, it carried with it an atmosphere of awkwardness that could’ve parted crowds, silenced even the loudest of noises, an air that carried with it the tension of a love guru who had been faced with a problem most particular. In that strange, warped bubble constructed by the presence of such a guru, time passed at a rate that simultaneously felt too fast, yet too slow.  
  
“...Wait, so...you’re telling us that Jun-san and Natsuki-san...aren’t a couple already?” The silence was finally broken by the youngest of the present idols, his nasally tone accompanied by what sounded like a tone of almost disbelief.   
  
“Nope. They’ve both been single this entire time.” Shiki reaffirmed with a shrug, though he nodded knowingly in the young boy’s direction, it was a nod that said ‘don’t blame yah, Shoutachii, we all thought the same thing at first’.  
  
“Trust us, we had the same reaction. A-Anyways…” Hayato coughed, trying to get the stunned-looking Jupiter back on track, “We did have ideas, but we could use a second opinion!”  
  
“You see, we wanted to set ‘em up on a date, but, uhhh…” Haruna tried to explain, only to stop his explanation dead in its tracks, “...we kinda realised none of us know what a date is really like.”  
  
“Yeah! I said we can just shove ‘em in a cupboard or something and not let ‘em out till they admit they like each other, but apparently that’s like, rude or something.” Shiki spoke, his voice flattening as he proceeded on with his explanation, almost like an old and previously distinguished flame suddenly rekindled itself as he talked, “I still think it’s the best way to go forward thoughssu!”  
  
“Anyway! I said we should do something cute, but…” Hayato sighed, nervously rubbing the back of his head as he talked, “A-As said...we don’t really have much knowledge on dates. Please, Hokuto-san! Give us ideas!”  
  
The words had barely left Hayato's mouth before the divine answer the trio were looking for made itself known. It was like a holy light had enveloped the three hopeless boys; they who were previously hopeless, unable to figure a way out of their predicament, found themselves suddenly in the presence of the answers they had craved. They had searched and only encountered obstacles in the form of their own lack of experience, yet their guru approached them with his arms practically outstretched to them, offering them his guidance in their moment of peril.   
  
“Well, Fuyumi-kun and Sakaki-kun are both classical types of people, correct? I recall that they used to play the piano and violin, so...there’s a musical performance happening in town tonight. I only know of it because I wanted to see it myself, but I’m unfortunately busy tonight...but, perhaps if you two arrange for your friends to see something like that, in the atmospheric light of the evening, perhaps one of them shall let slip a few words of their affection?”  
  
The three were bordering tears from how flawlessly the guru had explained it. They had fretted so badly over whether their plan would work, the night before they had stayed up bouncing date ideas off of one another, and so many of them had either felt bland or like something Jun and Natsuki wouldn’t like. Even though something like going on tons of roller-coasters at a theme park would be a cool date to someone like Shiki, it wasn’t a good suggestion for those two, and as much a beach date would be quiet and romantic during the beautiful suns of summer, it was currently Autumn. Yet, even though the three of them had exchanged such ideas, none of which were ever destined to work, the one before them had swept in, and offered to them such an elegant situation in mere minutes. The three of them called themselves cupids, but he was the true angel of love among them, it was almost like he was the incarnation of Eros himself.  
  
“Thank you!!! It’s perfect, it’s perfect, it’s mega hyper PERFECT to the MAXSSU!!!” Shiki screamed out the words as though he wished for the heavens to hear them, he wanted to just grab Hokuto and hug him for his help, but alas, was touching the flawless angel of love himself even permitted? It probably wasn’t, not for him at least.  
  
“Hokuto-san, you’re the best! We’ll definitely figure something out with this!” Hayato nodded, hands clasped together as he thanked the man before him for helping them, “How can we ever repay you?”  
  
“Oh, it’s fine!” Hokuto replied with a slight chuckle as he looked at the three before him, their dramatic responses were admittedly a bit funny to witness, “I’m just helping out someone in need is all.”  
  
He truly was an angel. Even though the three of them and their pitiful experience or lack thereof of love had threatened to get in their way, the guru had cleared away their self-doubt, no payment, simply helping being its own reward. That must have been what it felt like to be blessed by an angel, as the three of them right there and then felt blessed.  
  
Their plan was sorted now. Thanks to the divine help from the heavens that they’d needed, they were now back on track, they could finally get on with their plan...and who knew, maybe if they succeeded, they could truly become worthy of the title of Cupids?  
  
It would be a challenge, but they had a solid direction now, and a plan to boot. They were going to succeed, they were going to make sure that their oblivious unitmates remained oblivious no longer.

* * *

The fateful evening had arrived. The Cupidiots were absolutely sure that their beloved unitmates would get together once and for all on that very night. They were going to go on a date, one of them was probably going to admit their love, and it’d be oh-so-endearing to witness.  
  
Also, the three of them fully planned to witness the whole thing.  
  
Luring Natsuki and Jun out into an unsuspecting date didn’t take much hassle. In the middle of town, right as promised by Hokuto, was a stage that had been set up for the performance that had been mentioned. It was perfect, it had such a romantic atmosphere combined with the glimmer and glisten of the stars that lined the late-evening sky. It was still plenty light out to see, but just late enough to set the perfect mood for a confession or two.   
  
The two quiet lovebirds were on their way to that very spot, though as far as they were concerned, the other members of the group would be there with them too. How wrong they would turn out to be, however...well, they’d be there, just at a distance to make sure they didn’t get spotted.   
  
“Ok, ok...are you guys ready?” Haruna asked, phone readied in hand. As the group took their refuge, all cleverly disguised (translation: glasses and a hat, or in Shiki’s case, a hat) just outside a nearby store, it seemed that the plan was ready to begin any second now. “If either of you two spot them, give the signal.”  
  
“What’s the signal again, Harunachii?” Shiki asked, his face hidden behind a magazine he was pretending to read, because to Shiki, that was the number 1 way to blend in among the crowds, it worked all the time in movies, after all!  
  
“...Oh yeah, what is the signal? We never decided on one.” The drummer replied, a blank look on his face as realised, “Hayato, any suggestions?”  
  
“So it falls on me, huh?” Hayato asked, right before a few grumbles to himself about the should’ve been the leader for all of this and how he’d have his precious leader position back in 8 days; pushing aside said mumbles for a few seconds, he spoke up, “Well, it should probably just be something subtle that’s not gonna draw attention, like-”  
  
“NATSUKICHII AND JUNCHII ALERT!!”  
  
“-not that!”   
  
“No, Hayatochii, I’m saying it’s them!!”  
  
As it turned out, Shiki was right. Hayato turned to look in the direction the boy had practically screamed in, and saw that there were two people approaching: Jun and Natsuki themselves.  
  
Thankfully, it seemed they were just out of earshot of Shiki’s random outburst, so their cover wasn’t blown yet. The three cupids all nodded towards one another, knowing that now was the time for their amazing and beautiful plan to commence. Just like Haruna had before them, Hayato and Shiki pulled their phones out, ready to watch their plan unfold.  
  
The two who they had been patiently waiting for had barely even entered their visions, when suddenly, it seemed like both of them were being distracted by something. The two who had appeared side-by-side as always, having walked together unaware of what was waiting for them, pulled their phones from their pockets, reading the messages that they had both somehow received at the same time.   
  
“Ah...it’s from Hayato.” Jun explained, the look on his face didn’t seem to shift from its neutral state as he stared at the screen, “Apparently he can’t make it, Producer-san’s called him into the office out of nowhere.”  
  
“Huh...my text was from Haruna...he says...the same thing…” Natsuki revealed, a curious look showing on his face as his gaze switched between the message and the pianist by his side, “Producer-san...must have found a job...for those two.”  
  
“Hmm...it seems it’s just going to be us two and Shiki-kun, in that case.” Jun summarised, but before he could even make a single move, he found the phone in his hand buzzing yet again. Taking a moment to gaze back at the phone’s screen, Jun was speaking up again, “Nevermind, Natsuki. Hayato just texted again, apparently all three of them were called in.”  
  
“Oh...so it’s just...us two, if that’s the case?” Natsuki asked, although his words seemed slightly disappointed from the change of plans, they carried just the tiniest hint of hope with them. After all, if the other three were all now suddenly busy, that meant he was now alone with…   
  
“It seems so, Natsuki. Urgh, those three drag us out only to not show up...I can’t even complain, it’s not their fault after all, but still.” Jun mumbled the words quietly, a bitter tone to his voice as he folded his arms, “Natsuki...do you want to head back, or stay here?”  
  
Usually, Natsuki would just be good with whatever Jun decided. But if he had to choose an answer himself, the answer would be that he’d want to stay with him. It was a no-brainer for him, he didn’t need to pause to think for even a moment. An excuse to spend the night out in town with someone like Jun was an excuse he’d gladly hold onto.   
  
“We’ve come all the way out here...it’d be pointless to turn back now.” The bassist explained, a slight smile showing itself on his face as he talked, “Besides, it’s really nice out...I say we stay, Jun.”  
  
Natsuki’s smile was a special one, it was one that could instantly light up a room whenever it appeared. Natsuki was the type of person who often just kept his expressions neutral, so the smile that appeared whenever he was with those he loved was one that everyone agreed was pure, almost adorable even. For a certain Jun Fuyumi, that especially held true. Even if he was irritated that he’d basically been pulled out of his house by people who hadn’t shown up, all that annoyance seemed to just melt away one he saw that smile of simplistic enthusiasm on Natsuki’s face. Even if he would never show it or say so out loud, he always thought that that smile was...well, pretty cute, to be honest.   
  
Damn it, even just thinking that to himself felt embarrassing to think, as true as it was.   
  
With a sigh, he replied to Natsuki’s suggestion, “Ok, we’ll stay. I guess...we’ve not really done this in a while, huh? Just the two of us, spending time without the others, I mean.”  
  
“Yeah...we’ve not been alone together. Even though the others are nice, and I like to spend time with them...I guess I’ve missed being alone with you.” Natsuki spoke, that almost-blissful smile of his remaining ever present as he looked at Jun, taking the time to reflect on this opportunity they’d been given.  
  
Alone together, huh?  
  
To Jun, the word 'together' was the word that always felt so...strange, in a way. Whenever he was with someone, it was usually Natsuki. They were always together, which was something Jun was grateful for. But even if it felt selfish to admit so, there was just one part of that that he didn’t feel so grateful for, and that part was the part where they were always, always together, just not in the way he wanted them to be together.   
  
But of course, he wouldn’t admit that to anybody; it had already been a struggle to just admit that to himself.   
  
As he thought about that, however, he couldn’t help but notice something, that Natsuki’s attention had suddenly been pulled away from him. He seemed to be staring off somewhere else, and this didn’t seem to just be the usual case of Natsuki staring off into the void. Following the direction of Natsuki’s gaze, Jun could see what had managed to grab his attention.  
  
“That stage over there...they’re moving something onto it…” Natsuki pointed out, nodding in the direction of the stage in particular. In all honesty, Jun had been so busy contemplating their current situation that he hadn’t noticed it, the nearby stage that had been set up in the middle of the street. It seemed a little big for a mere street performance, was something happening?   
  
“Maybe there’s an event of some kind…” Was the suggestion that quietly came from Jun’s lips, he watched as the stagehands moved all sorts of instruments onto the stage, it seemed to be a pretty grand event if it was one. “Maybe this is what the others asked us to meet them for…”  
  
“Mmm...I say we stay and watch...it might be nice, Jun.” Natsuki suggested, the look of piqued curiosity on his face was all that Jun needed to see to make his mind up, though it seemed Natsuki didn’t pick up on it, “If you want to, that is…”  
  
It only took a second for the answer to come to the younger of the two, “...I don’t mind. They even have a piano with them, so…”  
  
Piano, huh? To Natsuki, it seemed that that was an easy way to get Jun on board with an idea. Even though he’d only recently gotten back around to playing that precious instrument again, it still warmed Natsuki’s heart to hear the way Jun would light up so easily when his favourite pieces were bought up, or if he ever got the chance to talk about a new composition, just about anything to spark back up that once-lost inspiration of his was something that Natsuki had always been grateful to see again.  
  
And grateful he was; once the event had started, it felt as though the flow of time itself had changed. It felt like everything had slowed down, that the melodies played from the piano itself were mystical and enchanting things that could preserve that very moment for eternity. The music was beautiful, it was arranged so gorgeously that Natsuki felt stunned just by how perfectly it all went together. Yet, even though he was in the presence of such beautiful music, there was something else catching his attention even more than the concert.   
  
Just as he had predicted, it seemed that the sound of that music had lulled someone else into that same timeless daze. As Natsuki glanced to his side, he could see a faint smile on Jun’s face. Even if it was faint, he could still see the look of fascination on the other boy, the way his eyes sparkled as he watched on and took in the music being played was a welcome sight, one that said that maybe this moment being shared only between the two of them was a blessing in disguise.   
  
It took the applause of all the bystanders for him to realise that the performance was already over. The beautiful music had swept the two of them away, and before either of them realised it seemed as though that moment where time had stood still had somehow stopped, and that those looks of amazement on their faces were replaced by looks of realisation as they processed that they were the only ones not yet joining the applause, which they hurried to join in with, all whilst one of them was still gazing at the other.  
  
“Jun...you look happy.” The words trailed out of Natsuki’s mouth without him realising, as he spoke he noticed Jun’s attention turning to him.   
  
“H-Huh? Oh, well...I think it was worth coming out, after all.” Was the reply given by a Jun who suddenly seemed to be hiding that precious smile of his, “E-Even if the others couldn’t make it, that was still...nice.”  
  
“...Jun, it’s just us. If you wanna talk a bit more...you can.” Natsuki sighed happily, shaking his head a little as he smiled at Jun. He knew that Jun was a person who kept his interests to himself and didn’t like to talk for long, but he also knew that Jun was a person who could give entire lectures when it came to music and his favourite pieces, he could see that look in the boy’s eyes that said that he had too many thoughts on that stunning performance to get out coherently in one sentence; it didn’t even need to be mentioned that Natsuki would gladly hear out every last word he’d speak if he wanted to go on a tangent. “I know that look...on your face…”  
  
There was a slight air of silence for a few moments, neither of the two talking as Jun thought through an answer and as Natsuki waited. Most of the bystanders who had witnessed the performance were already starting to disperse, with a few sticking around to try and talk to the band who had performed. For the two of them, however, they’d rather just stay by one another’s side.   
  
“...I wouldn’t mind. Especially if you want to find somewhere a bit...less crowded to talk.” Jun answered, looking up at Natsuki, “If you don’t mind staying out a bit longer, that is.”  
  
“I wouldn’t mind at all, Jun.” Natsuki smiled, the faintest of blushes present on his face as he gestured for Jun to lead the way, following contentedly soon after without any hesitation.

* * *

“This is going perfect! This is actually going perfect, they’re talking and everything!”  
  
“You’re making it sound like they’ve never had a conversation before or something.”  
  
“They’re gonna finally confess!! They’re finally gonna have the super mega hyperest confession everssu!”  
  
Was it a bit weird that the three of them had been secretly watching their unitmates from afar for most of the evening? Yes.   
  
Was that enough to deter them? Absolutely not.   
  
It seemed that their brilliant plan that they most definitely come up with themselves had paid off, it had been a couple of hours since the performance in the street, and Jun and Natsuki were still out, walking the streets of the town together, still merrily chatting away as they talked about whatever it was they were talking about that the three Cupidiots were too far away to hear. It was probably something super cheesy or cute, maybe it was even something gearing up for the long-awaited confession of love?   
  
“Oh, Hayatochii, Harunachii, our plan is working almost too perfectly!” Shiki spoke with a cheerful spring to his voice, he was practically glowing with excitement for the moment the two lovebirds confessed to one another, “We should make this a business or something! Who else do we know that needs a partner?”  
  
“You sound pretty confident, Shiki.” Haruna pointed out, “You think this is gonna end super well or something?”  
  
“Are you saying this isn’t gonna work?” Hayato asked, a brow raised in suspicion at Haruna’s comment, “You sound a little...uncertain.”  
  
“Well, I’m just saying...it’s been a couple hours, y’know?” Haruna pointed out, hands rested behind his head as he sighed, “They’ve clearly not said anything...maybe we’re missing something?”  
  
“Hmm...well, Harunachii does have a pointssu…” Shiki pointed out, placing a quizzitive hand to his chin, “It only took Hayatochii, like, 5 seconds to ask me out once the idea crossed his head, but these two are taking their time…maybe we need to do something to spice this date upssu!”  
  
“Y-You two, maybe they just need a bit more time?” Hayato suggested, immediately placing either of his hands on both of his unitmates’ shoulders, as if to immediately curb any wild-card suggestions they had ready, “You can’t rush love-”  
  
“Says the guy who asked out Shiki on a whim-”  
  
“Jun and Natsuki’s love can’t be rushed!” Hayato kept talking in spite of Haruna’s protests, huffing as he tried to explain once more, “Jun and Natsuki...they seem to be having a good time right now. I’ll bet that it’s when they're about to part ways for the night that they’ll suddenly realise how good of a time it is to confess, and they’ll...they’ll…”  
  
“Finally get together, having their happily ever afterssu…” Shiki finished the sentence, an almost dreamy tone to his voice as he did so, “So you’re saying we shouldn’t intervene, Hayatochii?”  
  
“Absolutely not.” Hayato nodded in confirmation, taking his hands away from the two before him, “Just let the natural order of things work out, ok?”  
  
After Hayato was done talking, his fellow two Cupidiots paused for a moment, allowing those words to settle in. Maybe they were just rushing things after all, maybe they really just had to take a step back, take a look at things, and realise that Jun and Natsuki weren’t the type to rush things.   
  
In fact, they literally weren’t rushing. Although the trio were keeping their distance, they could see that the two they’d been following were still talking, seeming to have still not gotten around to that ever-elusive confession, it felt like eternity was going to pass before something interesting would happen!  
  
“This is kinda boring thoughssu.” Shiki pointed out, “Hmmm...hey, Hayatochii, Harunachii. There’s a CD store nearby I wanna go in, can I check it out whilst we’re waiting?”  
  
“Sure thing, Shiki. Just don’t take too long, you’ll miss the fireworks!” Haruna grinned, giving the vocalist a thumbs-up of approval, which was all Shiki seemed to need to have headed off on his way.  
  
The gyaruo began to walk away, leaving behind Hayato and Haruna, busying himself with his own mission. In all honesty, both Hayato and Haruna were immediately filled with the fear that the long-awaited confession would happen whilst Shiki was absent, and if that happened, they both knew he wouldn’t stop whining about it for the next several weeks...but then again, Jun and Natsuki had been hiding their feelings for years now, both they and Shiki had faith that they could put it off for another few minutes.  
  
Speaking of Jun and Natsuki, the two Cupidiots who were left looked over to where the two were. They were sat together on one of the benches in the street, the two of them both smiling as they talked. In all honesty, the duo really, really, really wanted to know what they were talking about, but there was no way they could get that close without blowing their cover. Their grand disguises and their strategy of simply hiding behind nearby buildings probably wouldn’t allow them to listen to that mysterious and elusive conversation...they had to be talking about something cute or sappy, right?  
  
Well, maybe it was something cute and sappy after all.  
  
The night sky above was beginning to darken, and the stars in the sky that had previously been mere dots hanging above were suddenly bright and illuminescent, the way they lined the dark skies was a beautiful sight to behold, it was almost…well, the word that those two wanted to say was one that they also didn’t want to say, it was a word that felt nearly dangerous. The word was, of course...romantic.  
  
But even the skies above couldn’t distract the two forever.   
  
"...You know, Natsuki, I know I said it earlier, but it's been really nice, getting the chance to do this again with you." Jun spoke, his gaze fixated on the stars that sparkled with light, his voice carrying with it a tone of relaxed happiness.  
  
"Do this...?" Natsuki repeated back, his gaze shifting from the sights above to the person by his side as he questioned what was said.  
  
"Mhm. Getting to spend time with you, j-just the two of us I mean…” The pianist clarified, he took a moment to clear his throat before he slowly turned to face Natsuki back. With an almost shy look to his face, he continued on, “...Like we used to."  
  
"Ah...It's been a while, hasn't it?” It seemed that that sentence was all that was needed to suddenly turn Natsuki’s tone into one of reminiscence, he closed his eyes as a gentle smile slowly appeared on his face. “I barely remember the last time I got to see you like this, Jun. It’s...a really nice surprise, how this night ended up. Moments like this...make me happy."  
  
That smile had come back, that pure and calm smile that would always warm Jun’s heart. Jun was not the type of person to be honest with his feelings, but even he had to admit to himself that seeing that look on Natsuki’s face, that look of completely relaxed and peaceful happiness, was one that always made him feel at ease. It was almost comforting, in a way. It was such a soft and gentle expression, that it easily made Jun’s heart begin to beat faster and faster, it was something he just couldn’t help.   
  
The way his heart would beat faster...it was a feeling that felt nearly foreign to him, it was strange. He wasn’t the type of person to worry and fuss over love or relationships, he hadn’t ever really seen a point in worrying over things like that, and yet, here he was, almost helplessly smiling widely just at the sight of his friend doing the same. He wasn’t sure how to ever approach it, after all, the two of them had been friends for years now...there was no way he could ever just admit to those feelings and have everything be the same afterwards.   
  
There were too many variables to consider, such as whether his dear friend felt the same, or whether he even had an interest in relationships. Besides, they were both idols now, and wasn’t there some strange taboo on that type of stuff? Either way, it felt like the cards were stacked against him no matter what. Those feelings were ones that he knew were better off unsaid.  
  
"Me too, Natsuki…” Was the answer Jun eventually got out, a smile that hid his melancholy showing itself on his face as he thought of something to take his mind off of things, “A-Anyways...um, there was a place I wanted to check out, would you mind coming with me?"  
  
“Huh…? Oh, where were you thinking of going?” Natsuki asked, the same gentle look on his face still present even as he tilted his head curiously.  
  
“Uhh, just a CD store I saw nearby.” Jun answered, standing himself up. He took a look at Natsuki as he stood himself up too, and nodded with a faint smile as if to ask him to follow.   
  
Jun wasn’t really after much from said store, he just wanted to check out something he’d seen an advertisement for on the way there. It would just be a simple in-and-out type of situation; as he opened the door to the store, however, what he laid eyes upon was something quite unexpected.  
  
“Shiki-kun?”  
  
The moment the name left Jun’s lips, the person before him froze up, almost as if on command, his head slowly turning to face that familiar voice that he had just heard, a look of almost terror on his face.   
  
It was almost like a horror film, and this was the moment where the monster had come in and cornered the helpless protagonist. The protagonist, of course, being one horrified-looking Shiki Iseya, who wore a look that felt like he’d been caught in the middle of something embarrassing.  
  
The only thoughts on his mind were simply just an echoing of ‘no, no, no’, for he had been caught, not doing anything embarrassing admittedly, but he had been caught.  
  
And he’d been caught by Jun, and next to Jun was Natsuki.  
  
“Are you...finally off work…?” Natsuki asked, a smile on his face as he asked. Shiki had been following him for enough of the day to know that that smile was from having spent so much time with his dear Jun, but only God could ever know what reaction there’d be if he said that part out loud. “We heard from Hayato...that the three of you...got called in all of a sudden.”  
  
 _‘Goddamn it, goddamn it, goddamn it.’_ The thoughts took about 2 seconds to start swirling in Shiki’s head, _‘I need a good excuse to leave! If I stay here, I’ll totally end up ruining their date, and I can’t ruin their date, cuz otherwise me and Hayatochii and Harunachii planned all this for nothing, and I’ll be the person standing in the way of Junchii and Natsukichii’s blossoming romance!’_  
  
He just had to play it cool, he just had to take in a breath and make a completely understandable excuse to not be-  
  
“Shiki-kun? Are you ok?” The words that came out of Jun’s mouth were laced with concern, perhaps Shiki had been quiet for a little too long, and as pretty much every member of the band knew, a quiet Shiki was a worrying Shiki. “Y-You seem a little...off.”  
  
“Is everything ok? Did something happen…?” Natsuki’s voice echoed the same concerned tone as Jun’s, the two stared at Shiki with such genuine looks of worry that it was starting to make him feel bad.   
  
_‘Shiki, pull it together...just excuse yourself, just say something and leave!’_  
  
“Uhhh...uh...um...I have to...home...get home...mega fastssu!!” The words were clumsily strung together, almost as though he’d just plucked whatever random words had come to mind and patched them together in some bastardised attempt at making a sentence, “It’s super late after all, y’know?”  
  
“Uhh...ok…” It took a few moments of awkward silence before anyone spoke, with Jun’s answer being an almost toneless one of pure confusion, “Though...you do make a point, Shiki-kun. It is quite late out.”  
  
“Oh yeah...I hadn’t noticed, even though the stars were so bright outside…oops...” It seemed that the two lovebirds had both realised just how late it had gotten, Natsuki nodded in agreement as he looked over at Jun, “I guess I just...got so carried away talking to you...I didn’t realise how late it was…”  
  
In a move that pretty much anybody could’ve predicted, Natsuki had a faint, yet just about noticeable blush on his face as he spoke those words, smiling almost peacefully as he spoke to the pianist before him. It was oddly pure, yet it also just made the Shiki who was looking on feel even more confused as to how Jun was still unaware of Natsuki’s crush. Was he really just that dense? Were him and Jun looking at different things here, or did he just have some sort of internal censor that made him oblivious? It still made no sense to the gyaruo, but that was less important right now. What mattered was, well…  
  
“Shiki-kun, would you like to walk back with us?” Jun asked, turning away from the blushing disaster who was standing by his side, “It seems we’re all heading home anyways, so…”  
  
“W-Wait, you two are gonna head home too??” Shiki’s eyes widened as he heard that, as though they were the most terrible and heart-wrenching words he’d heard. This couldn’t be, he hadn’t just ruined their date, had he? He needed to rectify this, but he had no idea how to do so, especially without Hayato or Haruna to help him out. “U-Uhhh...but it’s so nice out tonight, you should probably stay out a loooot longer, and pay no attention to what I’m doing whatsoever!”  
  
“Well, as you said, it’s getting late...it’ll be troublesome...to walk back once it’s dark, so we may as well head back now…” Natsuki pointed out, a vacant look on his face as he thought things through, “Besides...it’s too bad that you and the others missed out today, Shiki...so maybe we can walk back together instead?”  
  
Improvising excuses was not Shiki’s strong suit. In fact, it was probably one of his weakest suits, and he didn’t even know how many suits he had. If he had the others here, he could rely on one of them to come up with the excuse and he would be off the hook just fine, simply bouncing off of whatever plausible ramble either Hayato or Haruna would come up with. But this time, it seemed he had no counter, no excuse, no way to turn down Jun and Natsuki’s offer without things seeming weird or forced. He didn’t want to be the person who ruined their date, but it seemed as though things were already coming to a close, and he also didn’t want to look like an asshole for point-blank rejecting them…  
  
He didn’t know where Hayato and Haruna were hiding themselves. But wherever they were, they were probably watching as he left the store with Jun on one side and Natsuki on the other, a sour look of regret on his face as he realised he had accidentally put a sizable dent in their plans. He didn’t want to face them, he knew they were probably screaming internally as they watched everything snowball. Either way, he knew that tomorrow, he’d be explaining to them that he didn’t get much choice here, and he also knew his explanation would have to have a new plan attached to it, one that not even Shiki Iseya could mess up.  
  
As he walked along, trailing the two lovebirds as they talked about their night, he tried his best to just try and ignore the berating he’d be getting tomorrow from the two that he knew were watching…  
  
...and watching they were.  
  
“How?? How??? How is it that the one store Shiki went into, those two followed right after??” Hayato whined, head cradled in his hands as he lamented the end of this once-brilliant plan, “Haruna, why did you let him go??”  
  
“I didn’t see you stopping him!” Haruna replied, cheeks puffed out as he refused to take Hayato’s scolding, “Besides, I’m not psychic! If I had some time-machine-thing to tell past me that hey, if Shiki had waited 5 extra minutes everything would go smoothly, I’d use it, man!”  
  
“Urgh…” Was Hayato’s simple reply, the tone to his voice deflating as he sunk to his knees, unable to believe the way things had transpired, “We’re gonna need a new plan now...great…”  
  
It took approximately a split-second for Haruna to reply, almost as though he’d had the reply readied in advance, “Hey, that’s technically _your_ boyfriend that messed things up for us.”  
  
In response to that, Hayato stared almost fiercely at Haruna, a bitter look on his face. It was a look that said that he was mere seconds from screaming out loud in frustration from how the plan had suddenly tanked out of nowhere, it was one that said that he was tired, and it was one that said that he was already dreading having to make a new plan, especially considering that this one had pretty much been given to the trio on a silver plate by someone else.  
  
In the midst of all that tiredness, he could only muster up a single response to Haruna’s snarky comment.  
  
“Sh-Shut up, ‘Mr. Love Guru’…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! I know this chapter was quite a bit longer than the last, hope that isn't a problem iejtjrkbhyyn
> 
> Please know I have 12 pages worth of scrapped drafts and material from this one chapter alone. The struggle is real and the struggle is hard.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!


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